The 2018 UNLEASH Innovation Lab took place in Singapore in May and June, and Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) research officer Bethany Davies took part in this exciting nine-day event.

UNLEASH is a global non-profit initiative that brings together 1000 young people from academia, business and technology every year to find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. In 2018, the group focused on eight United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Food, Health, Education & ICT, Water, Energy, Urban Sustainability, Responsible Supply Chain and Consumption, and Climate Action.

ACER is an UNLEASH Innovation Lab talent partner and was invited to nominate participants, and nominee Bethany’s application to UNLEASH was successful.

The program immerses participants in an innovation challenge in which, working in groups and facilitated by content and business experts, they collaborate on generating ideas for solving the agreed focus problems. The resulting solutions were tested in a process of pitching to peers, investors and experts from private and public enterprises from around the world, and five winners of special awards were announced.

Highlights from the closing ceremony on 6 June included presentations by the President of Singapore, Mdm Halimah Yacob, by Nobel Peace Prize laureate, José Ramos-Horta, by UNDP Innovation Champion, Sophia the Robot, and by actor and UNESCO Special Envoy, Forest Whitaker.